Dragon Ride 2011

On Sunday, I headed for Wales and a leisurely day out at the Dragon Ride Gran Fondo. 200km long and I, somewhat ambitiously, was aiming for the gold standard of sub-7 hours (18mph+ average).

The day didn't start well. As has been noted on other reports and forums, the organisation left a lot to be desired (perhaps they should ask the organisers of the Kentish Killer for some advice!) I arrived shortly after 7 and sat in a queue for the car park for 45 minutes. I was at the start before 8, but had to ride a few hundred metres to the back of the queue, before waiting 1 1/4 hours to set off. All riders were supposed to have set off by 9:30, but even as I set off at 9:15, the queue that stretched behind me ran further than the eye could see. All this from an event that proudly boasts that it has gained UCI Golden Bike World Series status for 2012.

I couldn't wait to get going, if for no other reason than I was absolutely freezing. As I was on my own, the plan was to hook up to a fast moving group and tag along for the ride, but the best laid plans of mice and men and all that...

I took off at a moderate pace with the other 100 or so people in the pen... and promptly dropped them. No choice but to switch to time trial mode and try and catch a group from the group 2 minutes ahead. The problem was, any group I could catch was clearly not going fast enough. After about 20 miles, I hooked up with three guys who caught me and were flying. Truth be told, it was too fast, but we stuck together for about 10 miles until it blew apart on a short climb. And that was pretty much the order of the day, skipping between slow groups for a bit of a breather and tacking on to the odd fast group until the climbs where everyone dropped to their own pace. For the most part, I was riding by myself which made the day pretty tough, but generally, the climbs went well and I tapped out a steady rhythm at a decent pace.

Coming off the back of the final climb, the 7 hour limit was looking touch and go, but fortunately four of us got a group going and set a pace for the last 10 miles in the high-20's and I made it with a few minutes to spare.

Checking the results, one thing is clear - they're an absolute mess. It looks like a load of people only did one half of the loop, but have been recorded as doing the full course, others have complained about their chips not recording and others don't appear in the results at all. It's difficult to tell, but I'm pretty sure I finished top 100, which, given the conditions, number of entrants and the fact that I rode most of the ride solo, I'm pretty happy with.

Back next year? Maybe...

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Permalink Reply by Chris Dines on June 8, 2011 at 7:39

Great report and brilliantly well done! I got an email from Toby Lamb saying that he also got inside the Gold time.

I've seen there have been some major problems with the timing chips etc. One we must get right with the KK again.

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Permalink Reply by martin davey on June 9, 2011 at 22:09

Yes the timing chip problem. I was one of those whose timing chip did not work. Its a real disappointment to complete a tough course and then not have any official timings, especially as we went over 7 timing mats, during the event. So I have had to manually enter my time on the site which was just over 8 hours, a respectable 15.5 mph average.

I fully agree with your comments about the organisation. fortunatley i got there early enough to miss the nightmere getting into the car park and waited for 1 1/2 hours on the start line and started shivering, not good with a steep climb within 1/2 mile of the start.

PS The Kentish Killer feed stations were far better as well.

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Permalink Reply by Peter Leccacorvi on June 8, 2011 at 18:54

Hi All,

Well done Jonathan,

I did the 200k solo aswell and was totally hacked off with the fact that the timing chip did not work.

Considering the amount of riders approx 4500 making sure the timing and splits was spot on would be a major priority as the cycling drums are already pounding away slating the event!!

It took a long time to get going as you pointed out with the wait in the cold but my elasped time on my garmin was 7.24 not as fast but still a very good workout. Can't join in the group rides this sunday as I am also in the Tour of the Weald this Sunday and the Chiltern Classic the 19th anyone else going??

Best regards

Pete Leccacorvi

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Permalink Reply by Chris Dines on June 8, 2011 at 20:11

Is the Chiltern Classic the same as the Chiltern 100? I did it a couple of years back. Found it very tough in what was a freakishly hot day......but there are some very steep climbs up the ridge.